Vegetables for pregnancy

Fresh vegetabless have life force, the Latin word for vegetables, vegetare, means “to enliven or animate.”

health benefits of vegetables

Your mother was right. You need to eat your greens.

Vegetables contain vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, and are full of fiber. Nutrition research shows that eating a diet rich in vegetables reduces the rist of many chronic diseases.

They are also fat-free and cholesterol-free. Vegetables offer the maximum amount of nutrition for the minimum amount of calories.

dark leafy greens

Green, leafy vegetables are nutritional powerhouse that are concentrated in vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. Researchers have identified 45 different flavonoids (a type of antioxidant) in kale alone.

Greens are one of the most adundant sources of folate, wich makes sense considering that folate derives from the word “foliage” meanin leaves.

They also contain Vitamin C, beta-carotene, fiber, and many B vitamins, and trace minerals. Vitamin C works together with amono acids and other nutrients to maotain normal collagen production, which is important for your baby’s growth and to support your tissues (like your growing uterus and the kin on your belly).

Greens have high amounts of vitamin K1, which plays a crucial role in normal blood clotting,

B6 and magnesiu,: Leaft freens are also high in two nutrients that help prevent or ease the severity of morning sickness in some women:

Lastly they are a source of potatssiu, a key electrolyte that help maintain normal blood pressure and prevents swelling.

how to consume vegetables

Vegetables should honestly take up almost half of your plate. Dark leafy greens, cauliflower, broccoli, bell peppers, onions, cucumbers, take your pick. Eat those non-starchy vegetables in heavy rotation. Switch your produce up to ensure you are eating a wide range of vitamins and minerals.

Certain nutrients are better preserved when vegetables are raw (like vitamin C) while some are enhanced when vegetables are cooked (like beta-cortene)
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S1878450X15000207

I reccomend eating acombination of cooked and raw vegetables.

Keep in mind that the nutrients in vegetables, especially antioxidants and fat-soluble vitamins, are best absorbed when you eat them with some fat. So don’t be shy about eating grass-fed butter, coconut oil, olive oil, avocado, nuts, seeds, or other healthy fats alongside your vegetables. Great you ate a cumber, did you have some fat with that?

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15277161

In the traditional American diet, vegetables have been served as a side, but it should be more like the main.

guide to buying vegetables

The best way to know what’s on your produce it to grow your own. But we don’t all have that green thumb so find a farmer near you who does. Buying vegetables from local farmers is a great way to ensure your produce is picked at its peak. Delivering you with the highest nutritional value – it wasn’t left in a warehouse to ripen over four months. It will be evident in the flavor of the vegetable.

Commercial farmnin techniques use pesticdes, herbicides, and fungicides and can leave toxic residues on the vegetables surface.

Always wash your produce no matter what. It doesn’t matter if it’s on the clean 15 or dirty dozen. There are more salmonella outbreaks on produce.

Even if you can’t afford, loca, organic, farm fresh produce – always remember – any vegetables are better than no vegetables.

what are vegetables, really?

Most vegetables are high in water and low in fat and protein. Thus they are a perfect complement to animal protein foods to help supply the needed nutrients that aid the digestion and utilization of those concentrated foods.

Most vegetables are predomintly carbohydrate with important fiber bulk.

The most nutritious ways to eat vegetables is fresh and raw, But raw vegetables eaten in too much quantity are harder for some people to chew and digest and can produce intestinal gas. Light steaming of vegetables softens them without depleting much of their nutrients, and hot vegetables with a little seasoning may be more pleasing to the palate.

Boiling vegetables: many of the nutrients go into the water, so unless we plan to consume the water, by drinking it or making it a sauce or soup, boiling is not dieal.